The Pre-Colonial Period: From the Ashes of Pharaohs to the Berlin Conference At the end of the prehistoric period (10 000 BC), some African nomadic bands began to These communities select the Aba Gada, who serves a nonrenewable term of 8 years as leader. Note: The term rural population is used as a proxy for the population operating under traditional economic systems. The earliest known recorded history arose in Ancient Egypt . They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals . South Africa has a mixed economy in which there is a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic . 134-141. On the other hand, weak or destructive governance is sometimes the source of conflicts in the first place. The participatory and consensus-based system of conflict resolution can also govern inter-party politics and curtail the frequent post-election conflicts that erupt in many African countries. Introduction: The Meaning of the Concept Government 1.1. While this attribute of the traditional system may not be practical at the national level, it can be viable at local levels and help promote democratic values. This section attempts to explain these seemingly contradictory implications of traditional institutions. Of the latter, 10 achieved the top rating of free, a conclusion close to ratings by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).9 A more bullish reading drawn again from multiple sources is that over 60% of people in sub-Saharan Africa live in free or partly free countries, a situation that enabled a Brookings Institution study to conclude that the region [is] moving in fits and starts towards greater democratic consolidation.10 Countries absent from the apparent democratic wave missed its beginnings in the early and mid-1990s, became caught up in protracted or recurrent civil conflicts, or degenerated as a result of electoral violence or big men patrimonialism. The Sultanes of Somalia are examples of this category and the community has specific criteria as to who is qualified to be a chief (Ahmed, 2017). Thus, another report by PRIO and the University of Uppsala (two Norwegian and Swedish centers) breaks conflict down into state-based (where at least one party is a government), non-state-based (neither party is an official state actor), and one-sided conflicts (an armed faction against unarmed civilians). for a democratic system of government. "Law" in traditional Africa includes enforceable traditions, customs, and laws. This outline leads us to examine more closely the sources of legitimacy in African governance systems. The essay concludes with a sobering reflection on the challenge of achieving resilient governance. . Not surprisingly, incumbent leaders facing these challenges look to short-term military remedies and extend a welcome to military partnerswith France, the United States, and the United Nations the leading candidates. The Ibo village assembly in eastern Nigeria, the Eritrean village Baito (assembly), the council of elders (kiama) of the Kikuyu in Kenya, and the kaya elders of the Mijikenda in the coast of Kenya are among well-known examples where decisions are largely made in a consensual manner of one kind or another (Andemariam, 2017; Mengisteab, 2003). THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN CUSTOMARY LAW, Fenrich, Galizzi, Higgins, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2011, Available at SSRN: If you need immediate assistance, call 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 212 448 2500 outside of the United States, 8:30AM to 6:00PM U.S. Eastern, Monday - Friday. The modern African state system has been gradually Africanized, albeit on more or less the identical territorial basis it began with at the time of decolonization in the second half of the 20th century. Traditional and informal justice systems aim at restoring social cohesion within the community by promoting reconciliation between disputing parties. His dramatic tenure since April of 2018 appears to be shaking up the states creaky authoritarian services and creating the space for important adaptations such as ending a long-standing state of emergency, freeing political prisoners, reaching out to a wide range of foreign partners, and extending the olive branch to Eritrea with whom Ethiopia had fought a costly war. The jury is still out on the merits of this practice. Some of these conflicts are, in reality, low-tech, sporadic skirmishes and armed attacks. Cold War geopolitics reinforced in some ways the state-society gap as the global rivalry tended to favor African incumbents and frequently assured they would receive significant assistance from external powers seeking to build diplomatic ties with the new states. Political leaders everywhere face competing demands in this regard. In many cases European or Islamic legal traditions have replaced or significantly modified traditional African ones. The customary structures of governance of traditional leadership were put aside or transformed. The end of colonialism, however, did not end institutional dichotomy, despite attempts by some postcolonial African states to abolish the traditional system, especially the chieftaincy-based authority systems. (No award was made in 50% of the years since the program was launched in 2007; former Liberian president Ellen John Sirleaf won the award in 2017. Department of Political Science, Pennsylvania State University, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Contentious Politics and Political Violence, Political Values, Beliefs, and Ideologies, Why African Traditional Institutions Endure, Authority Systems of Africas Traditional Institutions, Relevance and Paradox of Traditional Institutions, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1347, United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, Global Actors: Networks, Elites, and Institutions, Traditional Leaders and Development in Africa. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural, include belief in a supreme creator, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic and traditional African . However, the winner takes all system in the individual states is a democracy type of voting system, as the minority gets none of the electoral college votes. 17-19 1.6. Some African nations are prosperous while others struggle. Another issue that needs some clarification is the neglect by the literature of the traditional institutions of the political systems without centralized authority structures. The result is transitory resilience of the regime, but shaky political stability, declining cohesion, and eventual conflict or violent change. Subsequent to the colonial experience, traditional institutions may be considered to be informal institutions in the sense that they are often not sanctioned by the state. A second argument is that traditional institutions are hindrances to the development of democratic governance (Mamdani, 1996; Ntsebeza, 2005). Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. Most of the states that had attempted to abolish chieftaincy have retracted the abolitionist decrees and reinstated chiefs. Large countries such as the DRC, Ethiopia, and Mozambique are likely to experience pressures against centralized, authoritarian, or one-party governance (whether accompanied by real elections or not). The question then becomes, how to be inclusive?19 A number of African states have decentralized their political decision-making systems and moved to share or delegate authority from the center to provincial or local levels. In some societies, traditional, tribal authorities may offer informed and genuinely accepted governance, provided that they are not merely government appointees pursuing decentralized self-enrichment. One layer represents the formal institutions (laws) of the state. As noted, there are notable differences in the authority systems of African traditional institutions. example of a traditional African political system. Communities in the traditional socioeconomic space are hardly represented in any of the organizations of the state, such as the parliament, where they can influence policy and the legal system to reflect their interests. Paramount chiefs with rather weak system of accountability: The Buganda of Uganda and the Nupe in Nigeria are good examples. It is imperative that customary land rights are recognized and respected so that communities in the traditional economic system exercise control of land and other resources under their customary ownership, at least until alternative sources of employment are developed to absorb those who might be displaced. To illustrate, when there are 2.2 billion Africans, 50% of whom live in cities, how will those cities (and surrounding countryside) be governed? The parallel institutional systems often complement each other in the continents contemporary governance. These circumstances can generate an authoritarian reflex and the temptation to circle the wagons against all sources of potential opposition. Its ability to influence policy is limited in large part because of its institutional detachment from the state and because of its poverty and lack of capacity to participate in the political process. There is little doubt that colonial occupation and the ensuing restructuring of African political entities and socioeconomic systems altered African traditional institutions of governance. Traditional institutions already adjudicate undisclosed but large proportions of rural disputes. The nature of governance is central because it determines whether the exercise of authority is viewed as legitimate. This kind of offences that attract capital punishment is usually . Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. This layer of institutions is the subject of inquiry of this article. One influential research group, SIPRI in Sweden, counted a total of 9 active armed conflicts in 2017 (in all of Africa) plus another 7 post-conflict and potential conflict situations.3, More revealing is the granular comparison of conflict types over time. This study notes that in 2007 Africa saw 12 conflicts in 10 countries. Rather, they often rely on voluntary compliance, although they also apply some soft power to discourage noncompliance by members with customary laws. The third section looks at the critical role of political and economic inclusion in shaping peace and stability and points to some of the primary challenges leaders face in deciding how to manage inclusion: whom to include and how to pay for it. Some trust traditional leaders more than they trust state authorities. Pastoral economic systems, for example, foster communal land tenure systems that allow unhindered mobility of livestock, while a capitalist economic system requires a private land ownership system that excludes access to others and allows long-term investments on land. The size and intensity of adherence to the traditional economic and institutional systems, however, vary from country to country. But it also reflects the impact of Arab, Russian, Chinese, Indian, European and U.S. vectors of influence which project their differences into African societies. The rise of non-Western centers of power and the return of global polarization among major powers reduce the presence and weight of western influence. African Political Systems is an academic anthology edited by the anthropologists Meyer Fortes and E. E. Evans-Pritchard which was published by Oxford University Press on the behalf of the International African Institute in 1940. The cases of Nigeria, Kenya, and South Sudan suggest that each case must be assessed on its own merits. A Sociology of Education for Africa . In most African countries, constitutionally established authorities exercise the power of government alongside traditional authorities. Traditional institutions have continued to metamorphose under the postcolonial state, as Africas socioeconomic systems continue to evolve. Many African countries, Ghana and Uganda, for example, have, like all other states, formal institutions of the state and informal institutions (societal norms, customs, and practices). The long-term, global pushback by the leading authoritarian powers against liberal governance norms has consequences in Africa and other regions as governments directly act to close the space for civil society to operate. Indications are, however, that the more centralized the system is, the lower the accountability and popular participation in decision making. Rule that is based on predation and political monopoly is unlikely to enjoy genuine popular legitimacy, but it can linger for decades unless there are effective countervailing institutions and power centers. Security challenges can impose tough choices on governments that may act in ways that compound the problem, opening the door to heightened risks of corruption and the slippery slope of working with criminal entities. Subsequent to the colonial experience, traditional institutions may be considered to be informal institutions in the sense that they are often not sanctioned by the state. The initial constitutions and legal systems were derived from the terminal colonial era. Among the key challenges associated with institutional fragmentation are the following: Policy incoherence: Fragmented economies and institutions represent dichotomous socioeconomic spaces, which makes it highly challenging for policy to address equitably the interests of the populations in these separate socioeconomic spaces. Ousted royals such as Haile Selassie (Ethiopia) and King Idriss (Libya) may be replaced by self-anointed secular rulers who behave as if they were kings until they, in turn, get overthrown. These migrations resulted in part from the formation and disintegration of a series of large states in the western Sudan (the region north of modern Ghana drained by the Niger River). The settlement of conflicts and disputes in such consensus-based systems involves narrowing of differences through negotiations rather than through adversarial procedures that produce winners and losers. The imperative for inclusion raises many questions: should the priority be to achieve inclusion of diverse elites, of ethnic and confessional constituencies, of a sample of grass roots opinion leaders? Most African countries have yet to develop carefully considered strategies of how to reconcile their fragmented institutional systems. The usual plethora of bour- On the eve of the departure of the colonial power, the Nigerian power elite in collusion with the departing colonial authority, drew up an elaborate constitution for a liberal bourgeois state - complete with provisions for parties in government and those in opposition. Since institutional fragmentation is a major obstacle to nation-building and democratization, it is imperative that African countries address it and forge institutional harmony. Aristotle was the first to define three principal types of government systems in the fourth century B.C. Click here to get an answer to your question Discuss any similarities between the key features of the fourth republican democracy and the traditional afri Executive, legislative, and judicial functions are generally attributed by most modern African constitutions to presidents and prime ministers, parliaments, and modern judiciaries. Indeed, it should be added that a high percentage of todays conflicts are recurrences of previous ones, often in slightly modified form with parties that may organize under more than one flag. Due to the influence of previous South African and Nigerian leaders, the African Union established the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to review and report on a range of governance criteria. While this seems obvious, it is less clear what vectors and drivers will have the most weight in shaping that outcome. Leaders may not be the only ones who support this definition of legitimacy. These include - murder, burglary, landcase, witchcraft, profaning the deities and homicide. It assigned them new roles while stripping away some of their traditional roles. Traditional leaders would also be able to use local governance as a platform for exerting some influence on national policymaking. The traditional justice system, thus, does not have the power to grant any rights beyond the local level. Roughly 80% of rural populations in selected research sites in Ethiopia, for example, say that they rely on traditional institutions to settle disputes, while the figure is around 65% in research sites in Kenya (Mengisteab & Hagg, 2017). Prominent among these Sudanic states was the Soninke Kingdom of Ancient Ghana. In Sierra Leone, paramount chiefs are community leaders and their tasks involve - among others - protecting community safety and resolving disputes. Still another form of legitimacy in Africa sometimes derives from traditional political systems based on some form of kingship. Since then, many more have been formulated, but the main themes and ideas have remained. The traditional Africa system of government is open and inclusive, where strangers, foreigners and even slaves could participate in the decision-making process. The first three parts deal with the principal objectives of the article. Thus, despite abolition efforts by postcolonial states and the arguments against the traditional institutions in the literature, the systems endure and remain rather indispensable for the communities in traditional economic systems. Stagnant economy, absence of diversification in occupational patterns and allegiance to traditionall these have a bearing on the system of education prevailing in these societies. The means by which the traditional government reached out to her subjects varied from sounds, signs to symbol, and the central disseminator was the "town crier". Certain offences were regarded as serious offences. Similarly, the process of conflict resolution is undertaken in an open assembly and is intended to reconcile parties in conflict rather than to merely punish offenders. In Ghana, for example, local governance is an area where traditional leadership and the constitutional government sometimes lock horns. Traditional leaders often feel left out when the government takes decisions affecting their people and land without their consent or involvement. The most promising pattern is adaptive resilience in which leaders facing such pressures create safety valves or outlets for managing social unrest. In this context the chapter further touches on the compatibility of the institution of chieftaincy with constitutional principles such as equality, accountability, natural justice, good governance, and respect for fundamental human rights. West Africa has a long and complex history. Legal norms are an integral part of the discussion about inclusivity since they affect every aspect of economic and personal life; this poses a critical question over whether individual rights or group rights take precedence in the normative hierarchy. Africas states are the worlds newest, and it can hardly be surprising that Africans define themselves in terms of multiple identities including regional, tribal, clan-based, and religious onesin addition to being citizens of a relatively new state. In a few easy steps create an account and receive the most recent analysis from Hoover fellows tailored to your specific policy interests. Institutional systems emanate from the broader economic and political systems, although they also affect the performance of the economic and political systems. Chiefs administer land and people, contribute to the creation of rules that regulate the lives of those under their jurisdiction, and are called on to solve disputes among their subjects. There are several types of government that are traditionally instituted around the world. As institutional scholars state, institutional incompatibility leads to societal conflicts by projecting different laws governing societal interactions (Eisenstadt, 1968; Helmke & Levitsky, 2004; March & Olsen, 1984; North, 1990; Olsen, 2007). In Module Seven A: African History, you explored the histories of a wide diversity of pre-colonial African societies. Paramount chieftaincy is a traditional system of local government and an integral element of governance in some African countries such as Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia and Ivory Coast. But established and recognized forms of inherited rule cannot be lightly dismissed as un-modern, especially when linked to the identity of an ethnic or tribal group, and could be construed as a building block of legitimacy. Yet, the traditional judicial system in most cases operates outside of the states institutional framework. In Africa, as in every region, it is the quality and characteristics of governance that shape the level of peace and stability and the prospects for economic development. Many others choose the customary laws and conflict resolution mechanisms because they correspond better to their way of life. For example, the election day itself goes more or less peacefully, the vote tabulation process is opaque or obscure, and the entire process is shaped by a pre-election playing field skewed decisively in favor of the incumbents. Act,12 the African system of governance was changed and transformed, and new structures were put in place of old ones.13 Under the Union of South Africa, the Gov- It also develops a theoretical framework for the . Africa's tumultuous political history has resulted in extreme disparities between the wealth and stability of its countries. In addition, according to Chirayath et al. In some cases, community elders select future Sultanes at a young age and groom them for the position. Legitimate authority, in turn, is based on accepted laws and norms rather than the arbitrary, unconstrained power of the rulers. This point links the reader to the other Africa chapters that have been prepared for this project. Posted: 12 May 2011. 14 L.A. Ayinla 'African Philosophy of Law: A Critique' 151, available at More frequently, this form of rule operates at the sub-state level as in the case of the emir of Kano or the Sultan of Sokoto in Nigeria or the former royal establishments of the Baganda (Uganda) or the Ashanti (Ghana). Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. This study points to a marked increase in state-based conflicts, owing in significant part to the inter-mixture of Islamic State factions into pre-existing conflicts. The article has three principal objectives and is organized into four parts. Ten years later, in 2017, the number of conflicts was 18, taking place in 13 different countries. This page was processed by aws-apollo-l2 in 0.093 seconds, Using these links will ensure access to this page indefinitely. As a result, it becomes highly complex to analyze their roles and structures without specifying the time frame. A key factor in the size of adherents of rural institutions, however, seems to depend on the ratio of the population in the traditional economic systems to the total population. (2005), customary systems operating outside of the state regime are often the dominant form of regulation and dispute resolution, covering up to 90% of the population in parts of Africa. One of these will be the role and weight of various powerful external actors. African indigenous education was. Some African leaders such as Ghanas Jerry Rawlings, Zambias Kenneth Kaunda, or Mozambiques Joachim Chissano accept and respect term limits and stand down. This process becomes difficult when citizens are divided into parallel socioeconomic spaces with different judicial systems, property rights laws, and resource allocation mechanisms, which often may conflict with each other. An alternative strategy of bringing about institutional harmony would be to transform the traditional economic systems into an exchange-based economy that would be compatible with the formal institutions of the state. In the postcolonial era, their roles changed again. With respect to their relevance, traditional institutions remain indispensable for several reasons. A look at the economic systems of the adherents of the two institutional systems also gives a good indication of the relations between economic and institutional systems. My intention in this chapter is to explore the traditional African ideas and values of politics with a view to pointing up what may be described as the democratic features of the indigenous system of government and to examine whether, and in what ways, such features can be said to be harmonious with the ethos of contemporary political culture and hence can be said to be relevant to . Pre-colonial Administration of the Yorubas. In the past decade, traditional security systems utilized in commercial or government facilities have consisted of a few basic elements: a well-trained personnel, a CCTV system, and some kind of access control system. Traditional affairs. African traditional institutions continue to exist in most African countries, albeit at different levels of adherence by the populations of the continent. Government: A Multifarious Concept 1.2. Introduction. Different property rights laws are a notable source of conflict in many African countries. Unlike the laws of the state, traditional institutions rarely have the coercive powers to enforce their customary laws. However, they do not have custodianship of land and they generally do not dispense justice on their own. Government and Political Systems. Additionally, the Guurti is charged with resolving conflicts in the country using traditional conflict resolution mechanisms. The implementation of these systems often . The movement towards a formal state system is characterized by its emphasis on retribution and punishment. Only four states in AfricaBotswana, Gambia, Mauritius, and Senegalretained multiparty systems. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. Understanding the Gadaa System. Long-standing kingdoms such as those in Morocco and Swaziland are recognized national states. In general, decentralized political systems, which are often elder-based with group leadership, have received little attention, even though these systems are widespread and have the institutions of judicial systems and mechanisms of conflict resolution and allocation of resources, like the institutions of the centralized systems. The Constitution states that the institution, status and roles of traditional leadership, according to customary law, are recognised. While traditional institutions remain indispensable for the communities operating under traditional economic systems, they also represent institutional fragmentation, although the underlying factor for fragmentation is the prevailing dichotomy of economic systems. However, the traditional modes of production and the institutional systems associated with them also remain entrenched among large segments of the population. One can identify five bases of regime legitimacy in the African context today. Invented chiefs and state-paid elders: These were chiefs imposed by the colonial state on decentralized communities without centralized authority systems. Despite such changes, these institutions are referred to as traditional not because they continue to exist in an unadulterated form as they did in Africas precolonial past but because they are largely born of the precolonial political systems and are adhered to principally, although not exclusively, by the population in the traditional (subsistent) sectors of the economy. Ideally, African nations will benefit when civil society respects the states role (as well as the other way around); rather than one-sided advocacy, both sides should strive to create a space for debate in order to legitimize tolerance of multiple views in society. The structures of leadership of African traditional institutions are diverse and they have yet to be mapped out comprehensively.
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